You may have seen recently (all over our Facebook and twitter pages!) that a new Kitty Cafe has opened in Nottingham. It is the brain child of Kate and some of the initial funding came from a kickstarter. The kickstarter (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/354625846/the-kitty-cafe-help-us-bring-cat-cafes-to-nottingh) did exceptionally well and they were able to raise the money to get the whole thing off the ground. They were going to move to a premises in Hockley but at the last minute it was deemed to be unsuitable for the animals so they opted for the ex-Bairstow Eves building on Friar Lane instead.

LOCATION

I have to say that I think their new location is much better located for footfall and customers being able to check it out prior to making a booking. Hockley is the “fashionable” end of town but once the initial excitement has died down I don’t think many people venture up that end of Nottingham unless they absolutely have to. And that’s when they’ll be relying on people walking past and checking them out. It is approximately a 1 minute walk from Market Square and they have a ten year lease on the building, so they are definitely in this for the long haul!

INTERIORS

When you walk in you are held in the ‘cat lock’ doors. The internal door will not open until the outside door is closed. And vice versa. This is to help prevent any feline escapees as there are busy roads nearby which wouldn’t be good for them to stray into. You would not believe how many people are confused by these doors (EVERY SINGLE PERSON during our hour long cafe visit!) and try and open the doors despite reception indicating they need to close the other one first. It became slightly painful to watch so I think the staff are doing well to stay so patient…

The interiors are very glam. When we visited the cafe was only operating at half capacity so wasn’t very full at all. But this was good as the cats need time to acclimatise to their new surroundings. And also the staff need time to get up to speed with taking and delivering orders within the one hour window. The sofas are all very comfortable and it definitely looks very funky.

The cat areas around the cafe are plentiful. There are some raised platforms which they can walk around plus lots of places for them to climb and hide inside. When we visited the cats were quite happy just pottering about but clearly still a little nervous of people. In recent photos from this week I have seen more cats sitting on people’s laps and actively engaging, which is lovely to see.

I spoke to Kate about the kitty areas which appeared to be behind some cat-doors in the upstairs bit. She said that it goes back for two rooms behind the scenes. There is an initial room which contains their food bowls, litter trays and so on and so forth. Then there is a pod room at the back where each cat has their own bed and toys, and this is where they all go to sleep at night. I didn’t get to see these rooms but I hope that Kate might consider putting photos of them on the website for the curious minded amongst us !

I walked past yesterday and saw that they were fitting the take-out window which Kate mentioned when I spoke to her during my visit. So even if you aren’t able to get a booking you can still get the food. This is actually an excellent addition to this end of Nottingham as my office is based just down the road and there are pretty much no options for delicious take-out food within a 5 minute walk. Fothergills used to have a take-out counter but they closed it down around 2 years ago and nowhere else has taken over. I will definitely pop up when I am in the office to come and sample their take-out menus.

STAFF

There were 3 or 4 waitresses serving when we visited on a week day. There were also two front of house staff - Kate (the owner) and Elliot. I know that they are currently hiring for two reception staff so I would assume this is so Kate can take a more hand’s on role in the actual running of the cafe rather than just releasing the cat lock doors. The girls were all wearing very retro style dresses with cats on - a perfect attire for a kitty cafe! The waitresses were all very helpful and pleasant. Our order was taken with 10 minutes and served up within 25 minutes. This left us about half an hour to drink up, eat the cakes and play with the cats. You can actually see into the kitchen at the back of the kitty cafe and the chefs working away on the orders. The kitchen is completely enclosed so that cats cannot go wandering in by accident. I would imagine that they had to jump through a lot of hoops with environmental health over this one…! Kate told me her chefs are Italian and so I am looking forward to visiting when they open up their new menus!

Alongside the waitresses there is also an animal behaviourist and a zoologist within the staff. Kate was telling me that the zoologist has lived in a colony of over 100 cats and so is very experienced at spotting the subtle dynamics of the cats and their behaviour. There was some opposition from the Cats Protection League ahead of the cafe opening (they hadn’t even visited or spoken to Kate) with regards to the living conditions of the cats, but this statement has since been refuted by head office and I feel that the Kitty Cafe have done a good job of proving them wrong thus far.

FOODWe are Nottingham Cake Club and as such we are rather enthusiastic about cake. The cakes DID NOT DISAPPOINT! I was served up a slice of carrot cake the size of my head and it was exquisitely presented with a very pretty swirl of sauce. The drinks were also very good and the tea menu is approximately a mile long. It is definitely the sort of place I would nip up the road to go to when I am working in the office and just need a quiet break. When we visited they were only operating the cake and drinks menus, with a view to opening up to more food from the middle of April. The tea menu is rather large and I can imagine Lee Rosy’s got a bit nervous when Kitty Cafe was going to be based just around the corner from them in Hockley! I had a cappuccino which was very tasty and had just the right amount of foam on top. If they could just add chai lattes to the menu we may be approaching food perfection…

THE CATS

OK, so the stars of the show - the cats. There are 22 cats associated with the Kitty Cafe in various different states. There are 19 cats on premises and 3 currently awaiting checks before they join the herd. There are also 2 kittens on site, both of whom dash around at approximately 100mph. All cats have their vaccinations, flea treatments etc. And they have all been neutered / spayed. The Kitty Cafe actually operates as a cat shelter within their remit of having cats on the premises. But it isn’t as straightforward as adopting from somewhere like the RSPCA. If you would genuinely like to adopt one of their cats then you can register your interest on the day. You are then required to return a few weeks later to register it again (by which point you need to be genuinely interested if you do return) and then they carry out a home check. The whole process can take around 2-3 months, dependent on checks coming back positively. You will then be able to take your kitty home. The proviso is that you do not have to pay a fee for this BUT you will be required to send regular update photo of the kitty (or kitties if you adopt a pair who need to stay together - like Ginsy and Shelby).

The cats were very much just becoming accustomed to their new surroundings and so were a little nervous of people on the day we visited. I didn’t bother them too much and let them mostly come and see us. By the end Ginsy was sat on my Kitty Cafe companions lap having a fuss made of him! The cats did all appear to be very happy and I did see a lot of them actively engaging with visitors to the cafe. We were sat quite near to the front desk though and overheard one lady loudly complaining she expected the cats to be “more engaging with customers” - THEY ARE CATS, they do what they want !! I hope that most people do not expect the cats to “entertain” them and that really you do just go here to “experience” cats as opposed to expect them to do anything.

EXPERIENCE

The overall experience is much like sitting in the house of a crazy cat lady. A crazy cat lady with lots of nice sofas and plenty of cats. Who also makes nice cakes. To be honest this is right up my street (as I am an aspiring crazy cat lady myself…) so I was quite at home there. The surroundings are very nice and it is quite peaceful. I think once they open up to full capacity that the atmosphere will feel a bit more “lived in” (it’s an ex-office block and still retains some of this formalness, unintentionally) and less formal. I think once the cats properly settle in that it will become a bit busier too. Some of the cats did just hide away (and that’s fine) during our visit leaving one or two to work the room, but I think the cats will eventually find their balance too.

In summary it was a very pleasing way to spend an hour amongst the company of cats and I hope to return there soon. ^^~

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Since our visit it has been announced there is now an entry fee to visit the Kitty Cafe. It is £3 per person on weekdays and £5 per person on a weekend. To be honest this sort of prices it out for us as a “walk past and stop by” kind of place to visit and goes into the special occasions list. I am hoping to sign up for their Kitty Card scheme which is £36 a year and allows you to have unlimited visits. At the moment I don’t have £36 going spare though so maybe next pay day I might be able to sign up for this. It would certainly pay for itself if I just visited once a month! The fee has been brought in as a welfare charge for the cats. However, the prices on the menu were very reasonable so you could still have a visit for two for just over £20, I think.

We went to visit our new venue for 2015 shortly before Christmas (and they were so popular on that day we couldn't even get in to eat lunch!) to check out their function room and the premises. We were blown away by the transformation of this building! The old Halifax bank turned Indian Restaurant is now THE NED LUDD pub, situated on the corner of Friar Lane.

Ned Ludd have very kindly offered to host us for our entire 2015 season, which we are very grateful for because it enables us to continue the good work which we do for charities without having to increase the price of tickets to cover venue hire. The only thing we ask is that you buy a cup of tea or two whilst you are there for our events. ;-)

We look forward to hosting our 2015 season in the Ned Ludd and we kick off on the 9th February for our first - loosely Valentine themed - event.

The latest new addition to the Cake Scene (of which we are active participants!) is Pudding Pantry. Their new premises have opened next to TK Maxx, near Trinity Square. It's an industrial-style unit, but this hasn't stopped them from making it feel really cosy and homely.

The cafe itself has big sofas, comfy chairs and is always welcoming. I have visited here now on several occasions and their standard of service and quality of goods have never faltered.

Pudding Pantry came about because the, now owners, worked for different places all over the city and basically wanted to do things their way. Who wouldn't? Our high street is filled with huge coffee conglomerates and small businesses are fast disappearing from our lives. So they clubbed together and started Pudding Pantry. And do things their way they have!

During our last visit we ordered a hot chocolate, a chai latte and a chocolate brownie to share. Oh My Wow. All of it was perfection. The brownie was perfectly baked - a little gooey but not too gooey, with a nice crust on top. I could have eaten the whole pan!

They also serve "proper" meals alongside their offering of cakes, and these are also exquisite. They are well-presented, well-cooked lunchtime offerings. They have now started opening as a "bistro" in the evenings so it is in my diary to go back and sample their nocturnal fare!

Keep on keeping on Pudding Pantry, we love you and your delicious cake-y offerings.

So my time in the bake off is over. I can honestly say I was, and continue to be, blown away by the whole experience. I have kept quite quiet in the subject on my blog for the past few weeks as I wanted my time in the show to be done before I passed comment.When I put in my application, all the way back in December 2013, I didn’t expect to hear anything back at all from the show’s producers (Love Productions). I entered the show almost as a way to quieten my friends and family around me who had told me I should apply for years beforehand. If I applied and didn’t hear anything back, well at least I tried! Imagine my surprise when I received a phone call, not 24 hours after I had pressed send on the original email!The audition process was lengthy and intense. Repeated phone calls became long trips down to London, carrying bakes in hand. Meeting people at these auditions blew my mind as to the professionalism in this series. The other potential contestants had baked such wonderful, beautiful things that I had written myself off from the start. To the lady who baked the entire flock of Swans out of Choux Pastry and filled each with smoked salmon moose, I salute you!After having our bakes judged, some of us were thrust in front of the camera without a moments delay for a short interview before being released, rather dazed, back into the city. Although I had promised not to, I couldn’t keep my gob shut when asked by some ladies on the train home as to why I was carrying croissants across the country!After another short wait, back to London I was called. This time to meet another bunch of hard working bakers and to attempt our first ‘technical challenge’. Norman and Diana both stood out as outstanding, funny and sweet people who I was sure I would soon see on TV, as was a lovely Scottish lady whose name escapes me. Wherever you are Scottish lady, I hope you are still baking! Again I travelled home, fortunate for the experience but under no illusions that I would get any further.Some time passed and I heard nothing. Feeling my time in this process was done, I carried on with my normal day to day life, unaware of what was to come! Out of the blue I received a call asking me to start to organise some things to film in my home town of Nottingham! Me at work, at home, baking things or playing games with friends. Love productions wanted to film it all! Being told not to tell anyone what was going on, then having to explain a film crew following you round at work, is a difficult ask. They were “filming my 1976 Chopper bike” was my reply when asked! During this day filming I was told “You are on the show” by the wonderful producer Anna. Suffice to say, I partied a little that weekend.Then the recipes started arriving. Challenge after challenge would hit my inbox with deadlines that seemed all too short. 36 miniature cakes, who has ever baked that many?! A 3D biscuit scene? I beg your pardon?! Each challenge had to be worked on, documented and sent back to Love for approval. On the first recipe of the show, the Swiss roll, I was told that ‘under no circumstances’ was I allowed to use shop brought marzipan so, if I wanted to use it, I had to make my own. Fair enough, I replied, knowing the standard was going to be high that year. It paid to be a neighbour of mine over these weeks as cake after cake, biscuit after biscuit and pie after pie was hurried from my kitchen to waiting hands!Cut forward a few, frantic, weeks and filming drew ever closer. Receiving letters in the post marked ‘CONFIDENTAIL’ only furthered my excitement. I am the type of person who likes to know exactly what I am going to have to do but Love like to keep people a little in the dark. I believe this is to stop people (the press) finding out any info and to keep the excitement levels up amongst us bakers. Rules on what to wear (no logos or recognizable characters) meant I had to go and buy a new wardrobe, rules on my hair dictated the use of hair clips. All while still practicing my bakes and getting anxious!When the first filming day finally reached me, back in April, I think I speak for all the bakers when I say we were a little nervous. Being herded into a large room with 11 other people who are as in the dark as I was and being introduced to each other will stay with me forever. It continues to amaze me that 12 people from such varied backgrounds got on so well from the get go. Out for dinner we went, constantly being reminded by the production staff to keep our talking down when out and about in public!As for filming the show, I will let the show speak for itself. I will say that it is filmed exactly as you see on TV, even if the wait times in-between challenges and the like are FAR longer than you would think! Nerves were high in that tent at all times, amongst all contestants. Trying to replicate what you know you can make at home in the pressure pot of filming was too much for me to bear by bread week, and so home I went!From the end of the first week, I knew I was somewhat out of my depth. After seeing Nancy’s Jaffa Orange Cakes, the best cakes I have ever eaten I hasten to add, I knew that my time in the tent would be fairly short! I had seen this as an educational experience from the outset and I sure have learnt a lot from the other contestants during my time on the show. I wasn’t sad when I left the show, in fact I was quite looking forward to a lie in! I was just so very happy to have met such wonderful people and to have shared in this experience with them.The long wait between my exit from the tent and the show beginning has been one of the longest in my life. With so many questions about how it would come across, how it would be edited, how my (sometimes awful) bakes would look on TV buzzing around my head, I was almost beside myself at times! I am a patient man but this tested me, that’s for certain.Now the show is done and over, for me at least, I am able to begin to look back on it. Watching yourself on TV is always going to be a difficult experience, in fact I remember Sue Perkins saying she never does. Giving many weekends, some of which were the most stressing of my life, over to an unknown editor and watching yourself be condensed down into soundbites will never be a thoroughly enjoyable experience. At least it wasn’t for me! Still, the Love Productions folk did a wonderful job, showing both highs and lows for each of us in turn and being especially nice to each of us on our final episodes. I owe them great thanks, even if they did deny my request to be edited into a ‘Supervillan’ of baking!The attention I have received since being on the show has been huge, fun and sometime scary. The local press in Nottingham has been wonderful, the Nottingham Post and BBC Radio Nottingham getting behind and supporting me far more than I ever expected. They have published post after post about me and my journey through the show. I hope the cake and biscuits I delivered was good enough payment guys? The people I have met round Nottingham who have approached me to say good luck, or commiserations, have all been lovely and has made me smile, even through the harder times!Unfortunately, as always seems to be the case nowadays, the show has attracted some level of spite and vitriol from some corners. To the people in the press or those on Twitter who have had bad things to say about me, or any other contestant, I want to say that I feel sorry for you. If the best thing you can do, to a group of people who have given their time and love to make a program you enjoy, is to talk smack then what sad lives you must lead. I only hope you can find some peace and love in your life, like I have been allowed in mine, so you can see the pointlessness and hurt in your comments.Still, those have been in the minority. To all my new Twitter followers who have given me support and encouragement, you all rock! I hope you will continue to follow me as I try and bake my signature brand of overly complex, sometime chaotic bakes! To those people I know in my personal life, those who have hugged me and picked me up when times are bad and who have pushed me to do my best with a smile on my face, I love you all. My perfect girlfriend especially. Without you I would of been a jabbering wreck in the corner of a room by now.To my other bakers, be you already gone from the tent or still with weeks to go, I wish you all the luck in the world. Never in my life have I met such a bunch of amazingly talented folk. You all deserve to touch those stars you reach for. Never lose touch.JordanXXCredit - Jordan Cox, http://muffinimpossible.com/?p=85

Another month, another cake club! Our featured charity was the Hepatitis C Trust, with ambassador Liana on hand to give a short presentation about the work which the charity does. The Hepatitis C Trust aim to raise awareness of the condition, provide support for those diagnosed and provide information about what a diagnosis of Hep C means. They also aim to bust myths about people who are diagnosed with the illness, as Hep C could happen to anybody.For our October Cake Club we also had a little book sale! All money taken for books was donated directly into the charity pot. If there is interest in these book sales then we could look to hold more! If you have any books you wish to sell for charity please feel free to bring them along.

Now... onto the cakes!This month was Halloween-themed and we had a very distinctly orange coloured table! The cakes were simply incredible this month with everybody pulling out the stops. In honour of Great British Bake Off Jordan Cox brought along a Frasier Cake! Very impressive and delicious!Liana's son Finley joined in the action too and was really chuffed to see his marshmallow pops flying off the table along with mum's cupcakes - he can't wait to come along to his next cake club in November now!We had THREE favourite cakes this month, as voted for by you! Laura Brown's Chocolate and Orange Sponge Cake, Helen's Chocolate and Orange Sponge Cake and Liana's Cupcakes. Laura received a little token prize in congratulations. :-)We held a little raffle and prizes flew off the table. If you would like to donate anything towards the raffles we hold please feel free to bring anything along. If you are a business then we will happily display your business cards next to the raffle prizes you have donated by way of thanks.

Do you know what else we did this month? BROKE OUR £3000 fundraising total! In just over 12 months we have raised over £3000 for charitable causes, how amazing is that?! £3000 worth of cake, how delicious!

Our November Cake Club will be held on Sunday 25th November at 2:30pm at the Malt Cross. We will be back at Fothergills in the new year, but for now they have Christmas orders to fulfill and so we're having a little tour around Nottingham. When you arrive at the Malt Cross head directly up the stairs on your left as you walk in, and we'll have the event signposted too!

Our November event will be CHRISTMAS THEMED as it is our last event of 2012! Where has the year gone?! So many sprinkles, so little time!

Note: For November's cake club please remember to bring your own serving plate, cut your cake into a suitable number of pieces/bring your own knife and most importantly... get ready for a cake-poc-alypse!